"I was one of the more than 112,000 Korean children who were adopted..." an Essay from Ty Nowicki
Karin and me.
This contribution was written by Ty Nowicki, Director Ad / Creative Operations, Crown Publishing Group. He’s worked on exciting projects such as Matthew McConaughey’s GREENLIGHTS, Michelle Obama’s BECOMING, and Prince Harry’s SPARE.
I was one of the more than 112,000 Korean children who were adopted in the 1970s and 1980s. I came to America in 1981 when I was eight months old. I had the most loving family I could ever imagine having, but still, I always wondered if my birth parents were alive, or if I had any siblings somewhere in the world. I came to terms that I most likely would not find any blood relatives in my lifetime and was totally okay with it.
Me and the nieces.
Karin’s mom showing me her baby book.
Fast forward to the summer of 2022. I received a call from a Korean Adoptee connection agency, who, I apparently sent a DNA swab to back in 2016 and forgot. I had matched with a woman who had been adopted and raised in Sweden. It turned out that we have the same birth mother, and now I have Korean Swedish sister named Karin!
Smorgasbord!
I took a trip to Denmark and Sweden this past summer to meet Karin, her husband, and daughters.
They even had a Smorgasbord for me at their home where I met Karin’s mother and extended family!
Unfortunately, my parents are no longer here, but I know they would have been amazed.